The present invention relates in general to data processing systems and in particular to composite web applications. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved method and system for building compound extensible Asynchronous JavaScript And eXtensible Markup Language (AJAX) applications.
Composite applications enable multiple independent groups to contribute components of an application. The multiple independently developed and/or contributed components are executable within the same runtime context. However, conventional methods of implementing composite web applications (e.g., IBM's WebSphere Portal, Eclipse, and Microsoft's .NET) do not address the relatively new domain of rich web applications, such as Asynchronous JavaScript And eXtensible Markup Language (AJAX). AJAX is a development technique for creating interactive web applications that makes web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data between a web page and a web server and making page user interface updates incrementally, without having to reload the entire page.
Java is an object-oriented programming language, which utilizes high-level syntax derived from C and C++, but includes a simpler object model with fewer low-level facilities. Java programs are typically compiled into “bytecode”, which can either be interpreted at run time or compiled into native machine code for execution. Java programs utilize configurable security features to enable selective restriction of network and/or file access operations. AJAX utilizes a client side script language, such as JavaScript, along with eXtensible Markup Language (XML) to enable the creation of the initial conditions for the evolution of dynamic, intuitive, complex, and data-centric user interfaces in web pages. AJAX thus increases the speed, interactivity, and ease-of-use of web pages.